Globally dominant retailers Amazon and Walmart saw profits soar in 2020 on the strength of surging online sales amid a traditional retail environment decimated by COVID-19 closures and shoppers too nervous to venture out into brick-and-mortar establishments.
Amazon’s third-quarter earnings for this year, the most recent available, report an operating cash flow of $55.3 billion for the preceding 12 months, up from $35.3 billion for the same period in 2019. Net sales “increased 37% to $96.1 billion in the third quarter, compared with $70.0 billion in third quarter 2019,” the company said, while its operating income — its overall profit — increased nearly 94%, from $3.2 billion to $6.2 billion.
Concurrently, Amazon’s net income jumped a staggering 200%, rising from $2.1 billion to $6.3 billion.